Peaceniks
on the Plaza

Under a dark gray sky, hundreds
of people came together on the Arcata Plaza last Saturday to
protest the looming war in Iraq. The gathering was timed to coincide
with the massive protests that took place all over the world
that day.

The crowd chanted, clapped,
sang, cheered and whooped along with singers and speakers, including
State Senator Wes Chesbro (minus his mustache), Humboldt County
Supervisor John Woolley (who vowed to present an anti-war resolution
at the board's next meeting), and Arcata Mayor Bob Ornelas (who
looked overwhelmed that so many people had turned out). Children
and veterans, grandmothers and rappers, all took the stage.

There were around 400 people
there at any given time over the course of the afternoon, but
event organizer Mary Ann Lyons said that between 900 to 1,300
people visited at one time or another.

Enough money was raised by passing
the hat on Saturday to pay the price for holding the event --
$500, which came out of Lyons' own pocket. Ornelas said in a
phone interview on Monday that he intends to see how the city
can help out with similar events in the future.

Cranes
for Iraq

by
GEOFF S. FEIN

On
Feb. 13, 1991, during the height of the Gulf War, U.S. warplanes
dropped two "smart" bombs on what was believed to be
an Iraqi military command center. Turns out the bombs fell on
a Baghdad bomb shelter packed with more than 400 women and children.
It was the worst civilian loss of life during the entire Gulf
War.

Now as the United States is
on the verge of bombing Iraq once again, sixth-graders at the
South Bay School in Eureka are sending a message of peace to
children and families in Iraq. The 20 students in Linda Sorter's
class spent three weeks making 1,000 origami cranes and sent
them to be displayed at the Amariya bomb shelter memorial.

"It was something the kids
responded to that happened 12 years ago," Sorter said.

Students in her class learned
about the tragedy from Edilith Eckart, an Arcata activist who
has been to Iraq several times. Eckart spoke to the class back
in November. From that discussion the students decided they wanted
to make the cranes.

"The kids worked day, night
and weekends on the cranes," Sorter said. "They suggested
the cranes as a way of showing their concern."

Every student in Sorter's classroom
participated.

"They just folded and folded
and folded," she said.

When Eckart talks about the
memorial her eyes turn red and fill up with tears. Her voice
wavers as she recalls her visit to the site.

The shelter had concrete walls
almost 6 feet thick. The entire neighborhood sent their children
to the bomb shelter every night. The shelter was also the only
place in Amariya with clean drinking water. Repeated bombing
of the neighborhood had destroyed the city's water system, Eckart
said.

On the night of Feb. 13, 1991,
U.S. bombers dropped two bombs, five minutes apart, through a
ventilation shaft in the shelter. The first bomb exploded within
the shelter; the second bomb penetrated even farther into the
site. To date, Iraq officials say 403 people died in the shelter;
just 14 survived. The explosions were so intense that skeletal
remains of many of the victims remain embedded in the floor.

Iraqi officials have hung pictures
of every person known to have died in the shelter on its walls.
Officials have left the shelter as it was found after the bombing
-- with a large gaping hole in the ceiling and rebar and wire
exposed.

The idea to send the origami
cranes to Iraq is not to show support for any political system,
but a way for the students to show empathy, Eckart said.

"I'd like to see a national
movement where children who want to do something can use a project
like this to express themselves," she added.

It may appear odd to have 10-year-olds
taking on the role of activists, but not in Sorter's class.

"My kids are activists
on lots of issues," she said.

Sorter, who has been teaching
for 17 years, starts every school year by introducing kids to
the idea of caring about the world they live in. That lesson
plan has turned into letter-writing campaigns for Amnesty International;
work on behalf of starving children through Save the Children;
and addressing environmental and wildlife concerns through organizations
such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

In Sorter's 17 years as a teacher
only two families have requested their children be removed from
her classroom because they were uncomfortable with her activism.

Sorter herself is an active
member of "Women in Black," the nationwide anti-war
protest group that holds silent vigils around Humboldt County
every Friday afternoon. Sorter wears black to work on Fridays.
Although she doesn't promote her philosophy in the classroom,
several of her students also began to wear black on Friday.

What Sorter hopes she is doing
is teaching the kids how to be the best human beings they can
be.

"There is a lot children
can do," Sorter said. "Teaching has nothing to do with
test scores, but with human beings."

In the spring, Sorter's class
will do a hunger project in Eureka. They will go down to 3rd
Street and help feed people who go to St. Vincent De Paul's dining
hall.

A few years back, students in
Sorter's class wrote letters on behalf of a nursing mother jailed
in a Middle Eastern country (Sorter doesn't recall which country
it was).

"We all wrote letters to
the head of the government," she said.

A month later, the kids received
an update from Amnesty International -- the mother had been released.

"The kids were mesmerized.
They helped save a mom and child 15,000 miles away," Sorter
said. "The kids saw that all they had to do was write a
few letters."

[photo shows Alysha
Piazza, a sixth grader at South Bay School in Eureka, making
origami cranes to be sent to Iraq]

Roger
energizes the North Coast

by
JIM HIGHT

In a West Arcata neighborhood,
a large blue panel tilted skyward twinkles in the sunlight. Nearby,
a man examines an electric meter. After a moment, he looks up
and grins. "They've generated more than they've used for
the last six months," he says.

Dressed in a baggy purple sweatshirt,
his face framed by a mass of gray hair and beard, Roger looks
more like a middle-aged hippie than an innovative energy technician.
In fact, he's both.

Roger, 51, has a statewide reputation
for his expertise in the new utility-intertie mode of solar power
generation. Yet he has no computer, no cell phone, no e-mail
and no last name.

He is a true believer in conservation
who uses hand tools whenever possible and drives an electric
car he built himself. But he's no zealot.

With a soft voice and a gift
for speaking clearly, he's done more to promote solar energy
on the North Coast than just about anybody. "His ability
to educate building departments, homeowners and business people
is just phenomenal," said solar energy advocate Jay Peltz
of Southern Humboldt.

David Katz of Redway-based wholesaler
Alternative Energy Engineering considers Roger "one of the
most successful solar installers in the state. He does everything
right, and it always works."

"He's innovative, coming
up with techniques like a new way of sealing the [holes made
in a] roof for electrical conduit," said Katz.

Working through the California
Energy Commission, Roger has secured close to $500,000 in renewable-energy
subsidies for North Coast residents. And his reputation with
manufacturers has enabled him to get support for a trio of demonstration
projects here: a trial of new solar-electric roofing material
in Eureka; a program at Arcata High School to test how well solar
panels work when they're pointed in directions other than south;
and an installation at Northcoast Co-op comparing newly developed
amorphous thin-film solar panels with traditional crystalline
panels.

Roger began developing renewable-energy
resources about 30 years ago when he lived on a remote piece
of land near Weitchpec, far beyond the reach of utility lines.

Using a small hydropower turbine
called a pelton wheel, he turned a nearby stream into a source
of electricity. He also built a solar oven and a solar hot-water
heater. "Neighbors saw me doing these kinds of things, and
they asked me to start working on their places," Roger said.

As his reputation grew, so did
his fondness for the familiar form of address. "It was always
`Roger does this,' `Roger does that,'" he said. "I
liked that, and that's how I thought about other people, too.
It just makes it a little more real." He eventually made
Roger his legal name.

Through the 1970s, 1980s and
1990s, Roger installed dozens of solar water heaters, wood-fired
water heaters, pelton wheels, wind generators and other renewable
energy devices. In the backcountry, doing it yourself and helping
neighbors was a way of life, and he also became skilled at wiring,
plumbing and carpentry.

What drew Roger into "the
cities," as he refers to towns like Arcata and Eureka, was
a set of new state energy policies that made it more economical
for urban and suburban homeowners to generate electricity with
solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Roger had installed a few PV
systems, but demand was limited because people who weren't hooked
up to Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s grid needed batteries,
controls and monitors as well as solar panels. A single system
cost as much as $40,000. So most off-grid residents opted for
cheaper diesel and propane generator sets.

But in 1999, the state Legislature
set up a special account at the California Energy Commission
to give rebates to homeowners and businesses who installed solar
or wind energy systems and fed their electricity to the local
utility.

Needing just an inverter to
turn the direct current (DC) from solar panels into utility-grade
alternating current (AC), grid-tied systems were much less expensive.
And the rebates cut the price tags even further.

"My friends in the cities,
from Arcata to Santa Rosa, noticed this and started asking me
if they could get solar systems," Roger said.

By his own count, Roger has
installed more than 80 grid-tied systems in the last three years.
"It was a big shift," he said. "If you'd asked
me five years ago if I'd ever do more than two or three a year
in the city, I'd have said it was a long shot."

Depending on the size and difficulty
of installation, a grid-tied home-solar system typically costs
between $15,000 and $21,000, according to Roger. In most cases,
people receive half of the cost from the state; and many people
also save an additional 15 percent in state tax credits.

The system owners become "customer-generators"
of PG&E. They don't receive cash but are credited on their
bills for the electricity they generate in a process known as
net metering.

Roger says most of his customers
produce one-half to two-thirds of the electricity they use, while
a few generate as much or more than they use. Those who make
out the best financially are people who install time-of-use meters.

"Time-of-use meters were
developed to encourage people not to utilize a lot of electricity
between noon and six in the summer when it's hot and there's
a lot of air-conditioners going in Sacramento and other places,"
said Roger.

People with time-of-use meters
pay triple rates between noon and six weekdays from May to October.
Their reward is that they're only charged eight cents a kilowatt
hour -- much lower than normal -- the rest of the time and on
weekends, according to Roger.

"Somebody with a lot of
time and enthusiasm followed through with the state to get the
law changed so that if you had a time-of-use meter and a solar-energy
system, you'd also be credited at the triple rate," he added.

"With the time-of-use meter,
I can rake in extra during the day when the sun is out and we're
not home using power," said Jeanne O'Neale, a Eureka homeowner
and client of Roger's. "My bills used to come close to $100
per month," said O'Neale, who lives with three of her children.
"Since I've put in the solar system, my first full-year
bill was $62, although there is also a monthly service charge.

"My original investment
was about $16,000, half of which I got back from the energy commission.
So I'm in it for about $8,000," said O'Neale.

Saving close to $1,000 per year,
O'Neale expects her investment to be paid for within 10 years.
"It's the first thing I've ever bought that will actually
pay for itself," she said. (The solar panels are warranteed
for 20 years but may last longer.)

It should be noted, however,
that Roger works for less than most solar installers. In fact,
he believes that some are marking up solar panels excessively.

"If you're a carpenter
or a plumber and you mark up your supplies 10 to 20 percent,
that's reasonable. It covers your shopping time and bookkeeping,"
he said. "If you mark up solar panels 10 to 20 percent,
that pays for your trip to Hawaii."

Instead of adding a percentage,
Roger adds an hourly rate for the time it takes to select and
order solar panels.

"Some installers are treating
this like a gold mine," he said.

Others see Roger's pricing practices
as exceptional. "Roger is very much in this business for
idealistic reasons," said Michael Winkler, a research engineer
at Humboldt State University's Schatz Energy Research Center.
"It's not that other installers are excessive, but he's
making relatively little money. This is a labor of love for him."

Looking toward the future, Roger
hopes that the state rebate program will be extended (its future
is in doubt, like everything that costs public dollars in California)
and that with greater sales volume solar panels will continue
to come down in price.

He also sees potential for more
micro-hydropower systems, or waterwheels as he calls them. "Waterwheels
are very reliable, when you have water, which we do in this region,"
he said. With appropriate screens, they can be set up to avoid
harming fish.

But Roger is skeptical about
wind generators. "They look great. The TV stations love
to film them," he said. "But I've never put in a residential-size
wind system that produces, year-round, the same or more than
a solar system of comparable expense."

His greatest hope lies not in
new sources of power generation but in conservation. "The
biggest problem now isn't technology and coming up with trick
things. It's that people are using too much," he said.

"Since putting in these
systems has brought me back into the cities, I'm amazed at how
much people are actually using," he said. "That's still
the No. 1 way to turn things around. Use less of things that
consume so much energy.

"I have noticed that when
I install solar photovoltaic systems in homes, then people seem
to make a more conscientious effort to conserve. A lot of them
talk about putting in solar water heating," he said. "Their
energy use becomes more real to them."

A former North Coast Journal
staff writer,Jim Hight is a
free-lancer living in Arcata.

Port
plan taking shape

by
GEOFF S. FEIN

Imagine the bustling Port of
Humboldt Bay, home to a marine science center, a liquified natural
gas terminal, a place where timber companies load and unload
forest products.

Such things could come to pass,
albeit years from now, if officials with Humboldt County, the
City of Eureka and the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation
District continue to pursue the long-held goal of turning the
bay into an active port.

Of course, a lot remains to
be done before cargo ships sail here from locales as far flung
as Asia.

Numerous sites around Humboldt
Bay would have to be renovated; environmental studies would have
to be completed; a marketing plan would need to be devised; public-private
partnerships would need to be created.

And of course there is the ongoing
problem of transportation. Some say an active port can't happen
without an operating railroad and unless Highway 299 at Buckhorn
Pass is widened to improve truck access to and from Interstate
5.

In addition, issues such as
port security and air pollution from increased diesel truck traffic
would have to be addressed.

An encouraging study

But the first steps were taken
last week when county, city and harbor officials received the
long-awaited Humboldt Bay Revitalization Plan.

The report's authors could have
said Humboldt Bay is too small and isolated, Hunter said.

"But they didn't. They
gave us a shot of reality," he said.

The study identified the following
industries as best suited for Humboldt Bay: Aquaculture (the
cultivation of fish and shellfish), the forest products trade,
the cruise liner industry, tourism (possible attractions include
a naval museum and an aquarium) and the export of dry bulk goods
such as rock.

With increased housing construction
along the West Coast there will be a need for rock and gravel,
said Donald Grigg of PB Ports & Marine.

The consulting firm looked at
80 waterfront properties and grouped them into 16 key sites with
the potential for different uses. The study area runs from Samoa
Bridge to the end of Fields Landing and from the bridge to the
channel entrance on Samoa Peninsula.

Because of its location on the
shipping channel, the Eureka Airport in Fairhaven is considered
a key site. Other important spots include the Simpson property
because of its potential for multiple berths; the Simpson-Samoa
Redwood Dock site; Fields Landing; and the Balloon Tract.

"If we follow the implementation
steps we can do this," Hunter said. "This gives us
a battle plan."

Although Hunter was pleased
with the report's findings, he didn't like hearing that some
things can't be done in Humboldt Bay.

"You're hoping you can
do everything you want to do, but the report said we can't,"
Hunter said.

Grigg said there are solid opportunities
for developing a port but not in the traditional sense. Because
Humboldt Bay sits halfway between the Port of Oakland and the
Port of Coos Bay, Ore., larger ships would naturally go to those
ports.

Humboldt Bay, which is shallow
and needs frequent dredging, would also not be able to handle
automobile shipments, a container barge, rail-on-barges, or fruit
shipments, according to the report. (On Tuesday, the House and
Senate approved a $1 million increase to the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers $3.4 million dredging program for the bay.)

The report pointed out that
Humboldt Bay offers things other West Coast ports don't: large
waterfront industrial sites; an attractive downtown waterfront;
and liveability.

The transportation problem

The goal of creating a port
in Humboldt Bay has been in the works since 1988, when "phase
one" of the plan called for digging new channels between
38 and 48 feet deep to improve navigation. Dredging was completed
in April 2000.

However, before any further
talk of creating a port continues, officials are going to have
to confront one significant obstacle: the difficulty of moving
cargo in and out of Humboldt County.

As the study put it: "Humboldt's
limited inland rail and truck access is a significant disadvantage."

Some county residents want to
see the railroad reactivated; however, not everyone is sure a
port would fail without a railroad.

Primarily because the Eel River
Bridge is closed, there is no railroad service to the San Francisco
Bay Area. Grigg said a new port could operate without a rail
line across the Eel River. Even if the bridge were to be repaired
(the costs are said to be in the millions), the cost to ship
freight by rail would increase dramatically.

That's because the number of
railroad cars leaving Humboldt County would be too small to make
daily service financially feasible. Initial plans call for operating
the rail line only three days a week, said David Hull, chief
executive officer and project manager for the Harbor District.

Although daily rail service
would cut the travel time to the Bay Area in half, operating
costs would increase and revenues would drop, Grigg said.

"It's a fairly long haul,"
Grigg said.

A three-day rail trip south
would also add more time onto shipping schedules, Grigg said.

It takes a cargo ship almost
13 days to make the 4,535-mile trip from Asia to Humboldt Bay.
Although a ship would save up to two days by avoiding San Francisco
Bay and more if it avoids the Port of Los Angeles, limited rail
service out of Humboldt County would add more time to get cargo
to its destination, according to the study.

There has been no significant
railroad service along the 300-mile route since 1997. Back in
1992, the North Coast Railroad Authority acquired the bankrupt
Eureka Southern Railroad. It then acquired a portion of the Northwestern
Pacific Railroad route between Willits and Healdsburg in 1996.

The remaining portion of the
southern route (south of Healdsburg) is now owned by the Northwestern
Pacific Railroad Authority (NCRA), which includes the NCRA, the
Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District and the
County of Marin.

Local officials want to continue
analyzing the study and say they will hold community workshops
on the port plan in the near future.

Hunter said the revitalization
plan will remain on the Harbor Commission's agenda for now.

"We should be discussing
this at every meeting," he said.

The report is available for
viewing at the County Library as well as Humboldt State University
and College of the Redwoods libraries. It can be purchased from
Kinko's on 5th Street in Eureka. It can also be viewed on the
harbor district's website: www.portofhumboldtbay.org.

Carlotta
goes up on eBay

by
EMILY GURNON

It's not easy owning a town.
As Angelo Batini will tell you, it takes time and attention.
But then again, it's not always easy to sell one, either.

Batini, owner of the township
of Carlotta, has turned to the Internet to market his 33 acres,
and almost everything on it, following the lead of neighboring
Bridgeville, whose offering on eBay in December generated a flurry
of bids.

"I'm 70 years old and I
just don't have the ambition to work like I used to," said
Batini, who made his living as a general contractor. "What
it needs is younger blood to buy the town and build a hardware
store," or some other development, "and make something
of it," he said.

Located on Highway 36 just five
miles from 101, Carlotta is on the eBay auction block for nearly
$1.07 million. Included in the price are a post office, a combination
restaurant and bar, four houses, an old fire house, a four-stall
horse stable, riverfront property, a backhoe, two loaders and
a dump truck.

Like many of its neighbors in
rural Humboldt, Carlotta has seen better days. Batini and his
wife, Sharon, bought their land in 1995 from the now-defunct
Carlotta Lumber Company, the remains of which lie scattered on
the property in heaps of concrete and metal. The other buildings
are aging and need paint, at the very least. The same year he
bought the land, Batini also watched the historic Carlotta Hotel
-- which he bought in 1977 -- go up in flames.

Most of the 900 residents who
call Carlotta home -- all but a handful of whom live on private
land outside the township that Batini owns -- travel to Eureka
or Fortuna for basic supplies. There is no hardware store and
no feed store for the ranch-heavy area. The Pacific Lumber Co.
still operates its sawmill here, but few of the region's smaller
lumber companies remain.

Still, the place has its appeal
-- in physical beauty, if nothing else.

In late December, newspaper
headlines regarding the sale of Bridgeville, 15 miles east of
here, drove auction prices to $1.77 million, from an asking price
of $775,000. Escrow on that sale is expected to close Friday.

"Those are the first two
examples of towns going on the (eBay) block," and more and
more real estate is showing up there, said eBay spokesman Kevin
Pursglove. In fact, another town along Highway 36 -- little Platina,
42 miles west of Redding in Shasta County -- is also up for sale
on eBay.

"We're getting about a
thousand hits a day," said Batini's real estate agent, Sandra
Spalding. "It's just amazing." As yet, there are no
formal bids, though there have been about a half-dozen serious
inquiries. Bidders are required to go through a screening process
first, she said. The auction ends March 9.

People in these parts had a
hard time believing the Bridgeville sale, which included 82 acres,
a number of broken-down buildings and a cemetery. "I took
a ride out there the other day just to see if there was something
I'd missed," Batini said.

He believes Carlotta -- named
for the daughter of railroad and timber magnate John Vance, who
founded the town in 1902 -- is a far better deal. "It's
probably twice the value because we're all industrial land,"
he said. "We could do a trailer park, we could build the
hotel back up, it's all zoned for that."

But he doesn't have the heart
for it anymore, Batini said, lounging in a green recliner in
his living room. "After I lost the hotel...it kind of takes
the wind out of your sails," he said. Now, it's an effort
to keep things going. "With a town, you're tied up. You're
responsible for the sewer system, the water system -- you don't
dare leave."

On the other hand, it's hard
to let go. Life is slow here. Batini himself has never been on
the Internet and had second thoughts after they decided to post
the town on eBay. "You ever do anything where you get regrets
after it?"

Liz Fuhrman said she wouldn't
mind if the town doesn't sell. "I would hate to see somebody
come in here and develop us," said the 55-year-old, who
lives in the nearby mountains and collects her mail at the Carlotta
post office. "We like being out here in the boondocks."

A few new houses recently appeared
on a nearby river, she said. "I can't wait for a flood,
though. We'll get rid of them!"

Arcata
Theater on eBay, too

by
BOB DORAN

Following the lead of the phenomenally
successful sale of Bridgeville via an online auction, the owner
of the Arcata Theater is offering the property on eBay. The historic
theater has been for sale since last spring when its new owner,
Robert White, gave up on plans to turn the movie theater into
a music venue.

"We saw [eBay] as another
venue where we could reach a bigger market," said Bob Morse
of Bindel Inc., The Realty Co., the concern handling the sale.
"We'll see if we can attract some people with some money
-- and a vision."

Morse conceded that inspiration
came from the sale of Bridgeville on eBay, where a property that
was originally offered at $770,000 sold for $1.77 million after
a storm of media attention during the Christmas holidays.

"We obviously don't assume
that we're going to get the same sort of press coverage,"
said Morse. "That was national news. It was ridiculous."

That doesn't mean they aren't
trying to generate a buzz. A press release has been sent out,
and the San Francisco Chronicle has run an article. When
the Journal spoke with Morse on Monday he was about to
leave his office to meet newsman Dave Silverbrand from Channel
6 News; a piece aired that same night.

The theater will be up for bid
on eBay for one month: The sale closes just after 2 p.m. March
7. As of press time Tuesday there had only been three bids. The
highest, $200,200, was less than half the asking price. The eBay
sale has an unrevealed minimum bid called a "reserve."
Morse wouldn't say what it is, but conceded that it is close
to White's $455,000 asking price.

Morse figures even if the online
sale does not bring in a buyer it will be worthwhile.

"It's a gamble I suppose;
you put the money up front, but it's not very expensive,"
he said. "I think it's just $100 for a 30-day auction, and
you don't pay a commission like you do on other things sold on
eBay.

"We'll see what happens,"
he added. "We've had quite a few inquiries."

Redwoods
United lays off 50

Redwoods United Inc. closed
its doors last Friday, laying off nearly 50 developmentally disabled
employees. The non-profit had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
and could no longer afford to keep its work services program
going.

Other services, such as the
child care center and better living services will remain unaffected.

Speaking by phone on Tuesday,
Executive Director Rochelle Parkinson said the organization is
negotiating with the state's Department of Rehabilitation for
more reimbursements and hopes to have the program up and running
again in a matter of months.

Unfortunately, with the state
in the midst of a budget crisis, the outlook is not rosy.

FBI
looking for vandals

The FBI is teaming up with the
Humboldt County Sheriff's Department to find the person or persons
responsible for damaging a Pacific Lumber Co. log loader in Freshwater
on Feb. 10.

The loader, which was parked
off of Kneeland Road within a few miles of the Three Corners
Market on Old Arcata Road, had rocks and dirt poured into its
crankcase.

The FBI is looking for any possible
links between those who damaged the truck and other activities.

A PL spokeswoman said vandals
knew how to get at the engine, damage it, and close it back up
without drawing any attention.

Earth First! representatives
have said they had nothing to do with the vandalism.

The estimated cost to repair
the damage is $22,000.

Going
fast

Hoping to camp out at a state
park in Humboldt County this summer? Better hurry.

With booking now available 7
months in advance by phone and over the Internet, many campsites
in Humboldt County are spoken for from the beginning of May until
Labor Day.

"A lot of people called
here [beginning] January 1," said Manuel Sanchez, a booking
agent for Reserve American, a company based in New York that
has exclusive booking rights for California State Parks.

Standish Hickey, Patrick's Point,
and Prairie Creek are already full.

Grizzly Creek and Benbow Lake
still have a few sites available in May and June, but not many.

Richardson Grove, a favorite
campsite for Reggae on the River revelers, has nothing left on
the first weekend of August -- the time for the festival -- but
still has openings at other times during the summer.

Humboldt Redwoods State Park
has by far the most sites still available -- and on a variety
of dates throughout the summer.

Sanchez said that some people,
especially the elderly, have been cancelling reservations over
war fears.

"People are afraid of going
to state-anything," he said, but added that for choice sites,
people don't care if an atom bomb is coming their way, they're
going to camp there.

For more information on campground
availability, visit www.reserveamerica.com or call 1-800-444-7275
.

Aid
request rebuffed

While Humboldt County could
still receive up to $5 million in state disaster relief funds
to repair roads damaged in last December's storms, home and business
owners are being left out in the cold.

County officials learned earlier
this month that the Small Business Administration (SBA) had rejected
its request for financial relief for property owners.

According to a Feb. 3 letter
from Dallas Jones, director of the Governor's Office of Emergency
Services, to Humboldt County Supervisor Bonnie Neely, the estimated
damage to private property did not meet the agency's minimum
requirement.

"Unfortunately, the amount
of damage that has occurred to date does not meet the SBA minimum
requirement for a physical disaster event (i.e., 25 homes and/or
businesses each having suffered uninsured losses of at least
40 percent of their estimated replacement value)," Jones
said in his letter

The storms caused about $7 million
in damage throughout Humboldt County; approximately $2 million
in damage to private property and another $5 million in damage
to public roads and bridges.

Conservation
grant

The City of Arcata has received
a $660,000 grant from the state Wildlife Conservation Board to
buy up 61 acres of land adjacent to Jacoby Creek. The city has
received $3.2 million in state funds since November to obtain
land along the creek.

Last November the trust acquired
435 acres thanks to a $2.6 million grant from the Wildlife Conservation
Board -- the largest grant the city has ever received.

State and federal grants will
also allow the Jacoby Creek Land Trust to hire Susan Ornelas
as executive director. Ornelas is the wife of Arcata Mayor Bob
Ornelas. She will be responsible for working on a management
plan for the trust's lands.

Fire
in Hoopa

Lisa An Day, 28 was arrested
Monday on suspicion of arson and burglary and Kori Ann Apodaca,
28, was arrested on suspicion of burglary resulting from a Feb.
9 fire that destroyed a mobile home in Hoopa.

Humboldt County Sheriff's Department
said no one was injured in the fire on Rice Lane, which burned
everything inside the home.

Sheriff's deputies are continuing
their investigation.

Honoring
Bucher

The Humboldt Educational Resource
Center is getting a name change. The two-year-old facility, which
stores books and materials for teachers, will now be known as
the Louis D. Bucher Resource Center.

Bucher was the Superintendent
of the Humboldt County Office of Education for 20 years until
his retirement last month.

Bucher was responsible for seeing
the decades-old project through to its completion. Plans for
the resource center date back to the 1980s. However, lack of
funding and other delays kept the center from being built. The
center finally opened in April 2001.

Bucher began his teaching career
in Arcata in 1961. He worked in both the Fortuna and Eureka school
districts before he became superintendent in 1983.

Military
leave for students

Humboldt State University is
hoping to make life easier for students and staff called up for
military duty.

Students who are sent to serve
in the armed forces can withdraw from their classes throughout
the term without any penalty and they will be given a refund
on tuition -- as long as they can provide the university with
a copy of their military orders when requesting a withdrawal.

They are also guaranteed registration
rights for upcoming terms, without having to reapply for admission.

HSU faculty and staff are being
asked to assist students called up for service in finishing their
course work. One proposal is to allow students to complete their
courses via e-mail. If that is not possible, HSU officials are
asking faculty to give the student an incomplete grade.

Questions should be directed
to 826-4321.

A
new parking lot

The City of Arcata has authorized
City Manager Dan Hauser to spend up to $220,000 to buy the old
Humboldt Machine Works property for a future parking lot.

The 10th street property could
provide parking for up to 35 vehicles.

The city expects the new parking
lot to open this summer.

New
website

The City of Eureka is now offering
an expanded website with more information about the City Council,
boards and commissions.

The site also includes City
Council agendas dating back to 2000 as well as agendas for other
city boards and commissions.

Rivals
unite

Longtime rivals Danco Builders
and Resco Construction have merged to form the largest construction
company in Humboldt County. The move means that Danco Builders
will now have a combined workforce of 90 employees.

Jeff Smith, formerly of Resco
Construction, will become president of Danco Builders. Smith
joined his father, Roger Smith, at Resco Construction in 1986.

The elder Smith, who founded
Resco Construction in 1959, plans to retire at the end of the
month. He has worked on a variety of buildings, including the
Wharfinger Building and the county library in Eureka and the
U.S. Bank building in Ferndale.

He will be honored at a retirement
party from 5 to 7 p.m. on Feb. 27, at Baywood Golf and Country
Club.

Clarification

In a first-person piece in last
week's Journal, Emily Gurnon described a fire that started
at a house she and her husband recently bought in Eureka. She
wishes to clarify one point: "In no way do I place any blame
for that incident on our wonderful painter, our terrific contractors
or anyone else. The fire was an accident for which only I am
to blame."